Master Farmer 2008
James Baehl
Congratulations to James and Mary Baehl for the 2008 Master Farmer award. Jim is a 4th generation farmer of their family farm of 132 acres located on Hwy 65 near Armstrong. Anton and Genevieve Baehl moved to Armstrong Township in 1855. When Anton died in 1901, he set up his 3 sons with farm ground. Adam Baehl took over our present farm. In 1942, Adam retired to Evansville and son Wilfred took over the farm. In 1968, Wilfred retired and Jim and Mary Baehl presently own the farm ground. In 2005, Baehl Family Farm LLC was formed and Mike, Russell and Linda have taken over farming the ground.
Jim remembers milking cows on the farm as a boy and their dairy was on e of the first in the area to move from hand milking to mechanical milking machines. He remembers many a cold morning breaking ice for the cows and feeding early in the mornings before school.
Jim attended a no-till conference in St Louis in fall of 2005. There he met the Martins, Martin Industries LLC, who sell no-till equipment. Jim traveled to Elkton, KY to visit them and purchased the equipment to convert to no-till. Jim has moved toward adding a cover crop to the no-till rotation. They have planted an average of 25 acres each year for the last couple of years of Annul Ryegrass. Jim said he was very impressed with the root system Annual Ryegrass establishes in such a short period of time.
On the 132 acres he has 2 Waterways, 6 WASCOBs that are completed and 6 more under construction. Jim has planted 100% no-till for the past two years and partial no-till for the 5-6 years before that time.
Jim is a member of the Farm Bureau Inc., Knights of St. John’s at St. Wendel, the St. Wendel Catholic Church and past President of the Armstrong Recreational Center.
CONGRATULATIONS JIM AND MARY BAEHL!